Launching
a site like Beyond Religion, or writing a book like
A Handbook For Heretics, is a scary proposition. You
don't do these things without a lot of prayer and soul-searching.

One
of the answers to prayer, at least in my case, is a
surprising number of "coincidences." To paraphrase the
popular baseball movie, "If you write it, they will
come." In other words, if you stick your neck out far
enough and ask for God's help, coincidences will fall
into your lap. I believe that this is God's way of indicating
that there is divine assistance available if you want
to make use of it.

For
instance, during the writing of A Handbook For Heretics,
I was completing a section on angel communication. I
was telling of the phenomenon which many people have
observed, seeing the numbers 1111 and realizing that
it was a sign that their angel was in touch with them.
I was trying to find a dramatic way to sum up this section
of the book when the phone rang. It was a friend whom
I had not seen for several years. She had no idea about
the book or about my connection with angel numerology.
All she knew was that I might be open to mystical things.
She said, "I've been having this strange experience
for months, and it occurs five or six times a week!
It's like someone is trying to communicate with me,
but I don't understand what they're trying to say. It
seems that every time I look at the clock, it says "11:11."
I roared in astonishment. She had never heard of this
phenomenon and assumed it was only happening to her.
The "coincidental" timing of her call was a gift to
me, confirmation from my angels that this technique
is a legitimate means of heavenly communication.

When
we launched this website, Beyond Religion, we had stories
for every section-Near-Death Experiences, Coincidence,
Angel Communication, etc. - but nothing for Out-of-Body
Experiences. As a result, I didn't include such a section,
but hoped that we might find among our visitors people
willing to share their OBE stories. Within two weeks
of going public, we not only had an OBE section, but
we had three stories attached to it.

I
have to tell you about one of them. The writer contributed
the story titled "Healing Gifts" on the Out-of-Body
Experiences page. She is identified as N.C. I've known
her for many years but hadn't talked to her for some
time. After the site had been open only a week or so,
I was working on another project for the family. I went
to a filing cabinet in my study and pulled out the bottom
drawer looking for a particular file. The divider plate
at back of the drawer was pulled forward about a foot
to hold up the files. For some reason I looked in that
empty space behind the files, although there didn't
appear to be anything there. On the bottom of the drawer
lay a single piece of paper, out of sight behind the
divider. When I picked it up and read it, I was flabbergasted.
It was from N.C. and it said in part, "Here is the paper
you asked me to write on my OBE experiences."

I
have no idea how the paper got there, or why I even
looked in that place. I didn't remember ever asking
her to write those stories. The request must have been
several years old, long before the launch of the website.
I called to tell her the story, and she later wrote
me, "I had just told my sister and daughter about sending
you some OBE stories awhile back, and I spent all weekend
looking for them. And then you called and asked for
them!" So that's how her story came to be on our site.

It
says in James 4:2, "You do not have what you want because
you do not ask God for it." God wants to help. Our angels
and our spirit guides want to help. But we need to believe
that they really can help. We need to expect "coincidences"
to happen.